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"Liberty leading the People" by Eugène Delacroix

1774, Louis XVI takes the throne at the age of 19, with his wife, Marie Antoinette.

Palace of Versailles May, 1789 (15 years later) Louis XVI’s government is bankrupt. A meeting of the Estates General is called at the Versailles Palace.

“The Third Estate Awakens” June, 1789 National Assembly declared Tennis Court Oath “The Third Estate Awakens”

Storming of the Bastille prison, the opening event of the French Revolution, on July 14, 1789

August, 1789 National Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

French peasants

July, 1789 The Great Fear begins as peasants revolt across France

1790 Parisian women storm Versailles demanding bread and bring the Royal family to Paris The King signs the constitution

The royal family is moved to the Tuileries Palace The royal family is moved to the Tuileries Palace. Not too shabby for political prisoners.

September, 1791 National Assembly is dissolved Constitutional Monarchy created Robespierre leads the radical faction, the Jacobins

September, 1792 Abolition of the Monarchy France declared a Republic. All adult male citizens are granted the right to vote and hold office. Women not given the same rights

January, 1793 The head of King Louis XVI is shown to the crowd; thousands would become victims of Robespierre’s "Committee of Public Safety" and "Revolutionary Tribunal"

1793 Reign of Terror

Jean-Paul Marat assassinated July, 1793 Jean-Paul Marat assassinated

May, 1794 Robespierre, revolutionary turned despot, abolishes the worship of god and institutes the Cult of Reason and the new religion of the Supreme Being

April, 1794 “Don’t forget to show my head to the people. It’s well worth seeing. My only regret is that I am going before that rat Robespierre."

July, 1794 Execution of Robespierre

Marie Tussaud was employed to make death masks of the victims of the guillotine, including some of the revolution's most infamous dead such as Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette,Marat, and Robespierre. Her death masks were held up as revolutionary flags and paraded through the streets of Paris. 

Napoleon Bonaparte, military general, to the rescue

November, 1799 Napoleon Bonaparte, named First Consul